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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28028997">Tess Timony</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokencasbutt67/pseuds/brokencasbutt67'>brokencasbutt67</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Murdoch Mysteries</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Crying, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Murder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 11:49:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28028997</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokencasbutt67/pseuds/brokencasbutt67</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This is based off the song Tess Timony by Ice Nine Kills, which is inspired by Tess of the D'urbervilles. It uses lyrics from the song, which is entirely owned by Ice Nine Kills - it's one great song too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>William Murdoch/Julia Ogden</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When William heard about this case, he knew that it would be a challenge that would require all of his resources to be exhausted:</p>
<p>A young woman, barely twenty years of age, had been brutally attacked. She was found by a waif, he’d been terrified to find such a beautiful lady, lain unconscious down the alleyway at the back of O’Driscoll’s public house, which had somewhat of a reputation of being filled with various undesirables. She was surrounded by blood and torn clothing.</p>
<p>The lad had run to the nearest station, being station house number four. Crabtree had struggled to make sense of what he was saying, the boy was so shaken by what he’d seen that the lad had thought the lady was dead. Murdoch, along with Crabtree and Watts, went to the scene with the boy. The boy was talking to Watts about what he’d been doing when he’d found her.</p>
<p>Murdoch was already mentally preparing himself to see a corpse. He’s seen countless bodies in his profession, yet it’s still a shock every single time. He always needs to prepare himself, no matter how many bodies he’s seen throughout his long career here.</p>
<p>Murdoch is also aware that this case won’t be so simple – a young woman being attacked in the dead of night, outside of a popular public house doesn’t leave much in the way of witnesses, and even less who would be willing to cooperate with a detective.</p>
<p>They arrive at the alleyway, and Watts takes the child aside to talk some more while Murdoch and Crabtree make their way over to the woman. Murdoch drops to a squat beside her, reaching up to take her pulse. He’s taken aback when she groans under her touch. Murdoch shares a look with Crabtree, and the constable nods, before jogging off to call for an ambulance.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, Miss, my name is detective Murdoch,” Murdoch says, briefly pulling his badge out, though the woman isn’t awake enough to notice it. He helps her sit up, though the hiss of pain encourages him to help her stand, or at least move to a more comfortable position.</p>
<p>“What happened?” She says, looking around to gauge her environment.</p>
<p>“That’s what I’m going to determine,” Murdoch responds. She nods, though she says nothing in response. Murdoch ponders that she probably doesn’t know what to say, or do.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As William began to document everything that’s known about the situation, he realises that this is going to be much harder than he had first anticipated. There’s very little evidence, and the victim too, doesn’t know much about what has happened to her. </p><p>Julia has been treating her for a few days, which has meant that William has been unable to talk to her about it, or even get her name. Julia doesn’t want the woman to be too stressed, meaning William’s investigations are stalled until he can talk to her.</p><p>Currently, he is stumped. He’s tried to find something, anything to instigate the investigation. He hasn’t though, and he’s already scared that he’s going to fail this young lady, who has gone through such a horrible crime that will ruin her life. </p><p>As he investigates the case, it becomes clear to William what has happened to the young lady. </p><p>He’s been to O’Driscoll’s, though he didn’t get too much information from there - most of the people who were leaving at that time were so drunk that they couldn’t even see their own feet, never mind something happening in the dark of the night. </p><p>A few of the regulars confirmed that they had heard screaming, though they assumed that it was only women of the streets in the hotel rooms above. It didn’t help William much, though it did give a timeframe to when <em>it </em>had happened. </p><p>He’d found all of the information that he needed, though it wasn’t hard to find most of it. Scraps of clothing remained at the scene, which added evidence to his theory. </p><p>When Julia had confirmed what had happened, it was cemented in his mind. William is rather grateful that Julia had been willing to give a check-up over the victim, it made it much easier to get the results, and what was found. </p><p>William was certain of what had happened: <em>Tess had been raped.</em> </p><p>He doesn’t want to think too far into it. His job is to investigate the crime, though, for some reason, it’s hit William so much harder than other cases of a similar circumstance. </p><p>Walking into the station, William is met by Detective Watts, talking away to George. He walks through to his office, pulling the chalkboard forward. </p><p>As he writes out all of the information on the board, trying to find something, <em>anything </em>that would give a hint as to the perpetrator. There’s nothing though. </p><p>He doesn’t even have a description of the man, no one was paying much attention to what was happening. <em>In an area like this, could anything less be expected? </em></p><p>William has a few suspects in mind, though he’s struggled to locate most of them. Those that he has found have a solid alibi, or they’re already in prison for other, similar, offences. William is stumped. </p><p>He’s had sleepless nights trying to resolve the case, though he hasn’t told Julia of this. She hasn’t been able to provide much assistance either, though she has helped Tess coming to terms with what has happened to her. </p><p>William can only hope that he finds the perpetrator before it’s too late, and someone else is hurt by him too.  </p><p>This case becomes more challenging as the days pass. William hasn’t the slightest idea as to who the perpetrator is. Worries fill his mind that he’s failing this young lady, who has been hurt so brutally.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This goes against everything that he was taught when he was being trained to be a detective. Tess has called him out, late in the evening, somewhere close to midnight at the earliest. She’s requested he meet her down the alleyway where they were first introduced. It was an urgent call, and though reluctant, Will had left Julia in bed with a promise that he wouldn’t be too long.</p><p>He arrives at the alleyway, and taking in the sight, he has somewhat of an idea of what has happened. She is leaning against the wall, her body is shaking with slight sobs, and William doesn’t even know how long she’s been here.</p><p>Laid across the path is a body of a man, slightly rotund, dirtied by the damp cobblestone path beneath him. There’s blood pouring from a gunshot wound on his forehead.</p><p>“I’m sorry to have you out so late, Mr Murdoch,” She says before William has even stepped close to her.</p><p>“But I just…” She sighs. She looks over to the body a few feet away, before her eyes meet William’s brown eyes. He’s hoping that it calms her, though he isn’t entirely sure whether it does help.</p><p>“I found the man who hurt me,” She says. William looks to her, the gun that lay on the floor, and then over to the corpse.</p><p>“Did you…” He trails off. He’s entirely unprepared for this, though he supposes that there’s no training a detective can do for a situation so unique as this. She nods, wiping her eyes furiously. The tears don’t stop falling though.</p><p>“<em>Officer please, that’s the man who destroyed my existence</em>” She whispers.</p><p>“<em>He begged and he screamed just like I did</em>” She continues, looking to the corpse. There’s guilt and hurt in her eyes. William can see that much; he’s already feeling sympathetic towards her. He knows, deep down, that he should arrest her and take her back to the station, but his mind is screaming at him to do the opposite.</p><p>“<em>For this, I was willing to survive</em>” She admits.</p><p>“<em>It was all I could do to survive</em>” She finishes. She breaks down into sobs, and going against his better instincts, he pulls her into a tight hug. She sobs into his shoulder.</p><p>“I’m not going to arrest you,” Murdoch says, after several minutes of the hug not parting. The woman pulls back, her eyes filled with confusion. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handkerchief, handing it to her. A moment later, he reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls his wallet out.</p><p>“I understand,” He adds. He pulls $100 from his wallet and hands it to the woman.</p><p>“Go, leave Toronto and never return. I’ll ensure that this-“ He pauses, and gestures to the current surroundings.</p><p>“This is never heard of again,” William promises. The woman smiles, though it’s tinged with sadness, but it’s a smile all the same. She pulls him into a tighter hug.</p><p>“Thank you, Mr Murdoch, I can’t thank you enough,” She says. William nods and smiles.</p><p>“Escape to America, England, anywhere that isn’t Canada” He states. She nods, kissing his cheek. Before he can say anything else, she’s jogging off into the darkness of the night.</p><p>He turns to the fellow laid in the alleyway, pausing to do his routine prayer to God, before leaving back to the hotel. <em>It’s tomorrow’s business.</em></p><p>Julia is still awake when he returns, sometime after two-thirty. She notes the hurt and the guilt as soon as she sees him.</p><p>“William, is everything okay?” She asks, sitting up. She watches as he eases his shoes and coat off, placing his wallet on the table. Julia immediately notes that it’s significantly emptier than when he’d left, less than an hour ago.</p><p>“I’ve just been to see…” He admits. Julia frowns, watching as he eases the rest of his clothing off before sliding onto his back in bed.</p><p>“Oh…” Julia says, as though she knows exactly who he means. She doesn’t know how to approach the topic, though she doesn’t need to.</p><p>“She’d, uh, she’d found the man who hurt her” He spoke, swallowing slightly as his voice hitched with an unplaceable emotion.</p><p>“And…?” Julia prompts him.</p><p>“She shot him” William states.</p><p>“She couldn’t live with herself while he was still alive, she was terrified to leave her house while he was roaming the streets” William admits.</p><p>“And you…?” Julia prompts.</p><p>“I gave her some money and sent her on her way, I don’t know where she’s going. I don’t know what her plans are, but I just… I couldn’t imprison her for it” He whispers. Julia strokes her fingers through his hair. He pulls her into a loose hug, trying to calm the war that fills his mind.</p><p>“Do you think I was wrong?” He asks, biting his lip slightly.</p><p>“I think…” Julia murmurs, stroking her thumb over his jaw.</p><p>“You did the best that you could in that situation” She continues.</p><p>“He would’ve been released from jail after a year… or less” She explains. William nods, watching as she lays on her side to look at him. Her fingers stroke over his chest for a moment.</p><p>“She’s destined to live a life with it in her mind…” She adds. William nods, with an unexplainable expression on his face.</p><p>“I can imagine that, for her, knowing he’s no longer on the streets… It has likely eased that burden” She says. William nods, turning on his side to face her. He strokes his fingers over her cheek, a small smile on his face as he leans forward to kiss her.</p><p> </p>
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